$20,000 Bitcoin Put Option Becomes Third Most Popular Strike Price Before Quarterly Expiry

**March 19 (CoinDesk) — Ahead of Deribit’s quarterly Bitcoin options expiration, the $20,000 put option is the third-most popular strike price with ~$5.96B in notional value, reflecting traders positioning for extreme downside amid Middle East geopolitical tensions.** Open interest breakdown shows the top three strikes: $125,000 calls ($7.4B), $75,000 ($6.87B), and $20,000 puts ($5.96B)—signaling broad expectations for both upside and downside moves. Total notional value for the expiration is $13.5B, with 195,719 BTC in open interest (120,236 BTC in calls, 75,482 BTC in puts). With BTC currently trading below $70k, the $20k strike is a deep out-of-the-money (OTM) option—only profitable if BTC plummets 70%+ from current levels. Much of this activity likely stems from traders selling deep OTM puts to collect premiums, indicating a $20k downturn is seen as low-probability (not a direct collapse hedge). In short, it’s more an income boost or volatility play than a direct bearish bet. Overall sentiment: Though the market is in extreme fear, the options put/call ratio remains 0.63 (more calls than puts), pointing to a slight bullish bias. The max pain point is $75k, a level that could act as a magnet for BTC prices ahead of expiration.